Been chasing an odd issue with the air conditioning the last few days. It had me stumped until today. I should have kept it simple with the old saying K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid). I was looking for all sorts of other issues when I should have just started with the basics.

This right here is exactly why I try to do all the simple maintenances myself. Can't trust anyone, not even the Lexus/Toyota dealerships.

Symptoms:
* When starting the LX570, the AC would take 12 minutes to start blowing air, or sometimes it would not come on at all.
* Even when the AC would come on after a couple of minutes, it would not keep the same settings from the previous drive. It would sort of reset back to some sort of default.
* No matter if I set the AC to recirculate for inside air, or to the fresh air setting for outside air, I occasionally smelled exhaust fumes from cars in front of us.
* Fogged glass if you are trying to defrost in the humid or cold temps

It was driving me a little crazy, particularly with the Texas heat this summer. Sitting in the car for a full minute or more waiting for air to start blowing is not fun in this 100+ degree weather.

So pulled the cover to the filter and found the issue. Some dummy at the dealership messed up the recirculation door when they were changing the cabin air filter. That makes sense why I kept smelling exhaust fumes from cars in front of us. But what I did not know is that the delayed AC startup, or no AC coming on at all sometimes was due to the recirculation flap not working. Apparently it goes into some sort of selftest cycle on every startup, and when it does not sense the recirculation flap in the position it is expecting the AC control computer freaks out and doesn't know what to do.

Next steps? Pulled the glove box. Inspected the mechanisms, the arms, the hinges, etc... Luckily when dumb dumb at the dealership forced it open he/she did not break anything. Only the actuator arm/lever slipped off of the recirc flap hinge thingy.

I was able to get it all fixed, tested, and put back together in less than an hour. If I wasn't filming the whole process for you guys It would have been maybe 25 minutes.

If you have stinky exhaust smells in the cabin that never seem to stop. OR if you have an AC that seems to come on after a long delay, never comes on at all until you push a button, or if it loses its settings at every startup, this next video will be helpful for you.

Below are the links to the products used in this video.

I provide affiliate links to help you find the products I use and as a way of supporting the channel. If you purchase a product or service with the links I provide, there is no additional charge to you. I always recommend shopping around for a better price. Thank you for supporting the channel through affiliate links.

Charcoal and baking soda activated cabin filter:
https://amzn.to/3O6r0NN

Ratcheting wrench set:
https://amzn.to/3D1gpgG

No scratch trim tool set:
https://amzn.to/3D5GviI